Responsibility, Reflection, and Roses
by raxies94
Summary: Shikamaru and Temari are once again working together on the Chunin exams. Set about 2 years later than current storyline. Will they kill each other during the process? Or will something different happen? And who is sending these roses to Temari? ShikaTema
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing of this series or universe

Note: This is supposed to set around 2 years after the main story line. So that means that everyone in Shikamaru's age group is around 17. Just so everyone knows, I made Sasuke come back. It just doesn't seem like he's going to die. And, I know, we get the whole 'destroy Konoha' vibe from him right now. But maybe he worked things out.

* * *

Shikamaru lounged against a rock languidly. Despite having to work today, he hadn't had to do anything very troublesome. He leaned his head back and stared at the sky. There were plenty of clouds today and he just wanted lie there and watch the clouds.

Shikamaru was about to close his eyes when he heard a _swish_ sound characteristic of a ninja appearing. He sat up and opened his eyes and subtly reached for a kunai. His eyes, however, beheld merely a messenger from the Hokage.

Shikamaru stopped reaching for his kunai and said, "You guys seem to have a real penchant for disturbing my relaxation."

The messenger showed no visible emotion and said in a very cordial tone, "Nara Shikamaru, you are to report to Tsunade-sama immediately."

"Immediately, huh?" Shikamaru answered in a characteristic lazy drawl. "Sounds important. Is it important enough that I have to leave right now? Or can I nap for an extra five minutes?"

Still standing straight and answering cordially, the messenger answered, "In my experience, sir, its best not to test these kind of things on Tsunade-sama."

Shikamaru thought for a moment, then rose and brushed the dirt and sticks from his pants. "You're probably right." Shikamaru said then jumped off.

* * *

Shikamaru walked into the Hokage's office. As always, it was a zoo. People were walking in to make requests, pay off requests, report supposed robberies, or to just complain. Shikamaru walked past the line that was at least a dozen people long. The clerk saw him and gave him the go ahead. He and Tsunade had long ago worked out an arrangement that kept him from waiting in line. He got to walk past the line, but he also had to make at least some effort to make their meetings on time.

Skikamaru approached the huge double doors that led to the Hokage's personal office. He opened one just enough to step inside and tried to quietly close it. But to no avail. The doors seemed to have a special quality that made them boom whenever they shut. _249 failed closings_, Shikamaru noted.

Shikamaru turned his eyes to the Hokage's desk and saw Tsunade sitting there with a poorly disguised sake bottle wrapped in newspaper. Neji Hyuuga was standing in front of her. From the tidbits of the conversation he heard, Shikamaru pieced together that Neji had a special mission.

When they were done, Neji gave a respectful bow to Tsunade and turned to leave. He nodded at Shikamaru as he reached the door. Before he could leave Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder and said, "Try not to get so close to dying this time. It was really troublesome to have to save your—''

"Thank you for that, Shikamaru," Neji said as he cut Shikamaru off. His gaze softened. "But I seem to remember a certain time when I had to rescue you. I believe water was involved…"

"We both know that didn't count," Shikamaru said with a smirk. Bidding each other a final farewell, Neji opened and closed the doors with their trademark _boom_. Shikamaru turned to Tsunade and sat in the chair in front of her.

"So, what's so important I had to get here 'immediately' for?" Shikamaru asked, slumping in his chair.

"You don't even remember?" Tsunade asked, incredulity on her face. She shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder why I use you for such important things."

Tsunade studied him for a moment then asked, "You don't remember anything important that happens this time of year?"

Shikamaru stared blankly at her.

"Happens twice a year?"

He shrugged.

"Multiple villages?"

More blank staring.

A vein pulsed in Tsunade's head, and she looked as though she would throw something at Shikamaru. Shikamaru absentmindedly rubbed his left shoulder. It wouldn't be the first time.

Tsunade forced herself to be calm before yelling, "The Chunin Exams!!" Shikamaru stared upward in thought for a moment before saying, "Ah."

Tsunade took out the sake wrapped in a newspaper and took a swig. After she visibly calmed down, she said, "As you know, you'll be working with Temari again this year. She's scheduled to be here by two days."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "She's already begun the three-day trip?"

Tsunade nodded. "We just got the message today. Anyway, you know how this works. You're the bodyguard, guide, and partner."

Shikamaru rested his head on one hand and said, "You know, I believe the first year I did this my original job description was 'guide.' When did all this other stuff get added on? At first I didn't even help with the paperwork, but she literally held a fan to my throat."

Tsunade shrugged. "Its not my fault you two make a good team."

Shikamaru mumbled something under his breath and began to leave. As he reached the doors, Tsunade said, "You'd better be on time to pick her up this time Shikamaru. Or else."

Shikamaru nodded and once again tried to quietly close the door. _BOOM_! _250 failed closings_,thought Shikamaru_._

* * *

Shikamaru made his way through town. It was sunset and the shadows were stretched to their limits. He absently noted that this time of the day was when he was most powerful.

Hands in his pockets Shikamaru walked in the general direction of Kiba's house. On Friday nights, the guys of the Konoha 12 would try to go to Kiba's house to just hang out, recant old stories, and for some male bonding. Oh, and sake. Kiba's mom didn't really care about her underage son and his friends drinking. In fact, she'd often been the one who bought the booze and said that she thought they had the right to drink like adults, since they'd been doing adults' work. As a result, most of the 'male bonding' that happened took place during drinking games. Or when someone got so drunk that they thought that one of the guys looked like their girlfriend. But that had only once. Or twice. Or was it…

Shikamaru shook his head. He'd been too drunk himself a lot of those times.

As he neared Kiba's house, the variety of dogs living there ran towards him, barking and yapping. Shikamaru braced himself against the oncoming tidal wave of dogs and barely avoided being knocked over. He approached the house and heard the raucous laughter that signified his friends telling old stories. He opened the door and stepped in. There was a pause in the laughter and his friends turned to see who it was.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted out. Shikamaru saw that everyone was already holding a shot glass. He looked around the room. Kiba, Chouji, Shino, Naruto, Rock Lee (who, of course had no actual alcohol, but instead extremely potent grape juice), and Sasuke were all there. He eyed Sasuke warily. It had been roughly six months since the guy came back, but Shikamaru still couldn't stop looking at him strangely.

"You guys didn't wait for me?" Shikamaru said, feigning disappointment. "How can you have any drinking games without your champion?" He said that last part with a smirk.

Almost instantly, there were boos and other claims to championship. Most of the time, everyone was too drunk to remember who had won the drinking games, so everyone thought they themselves had won. Although, Shikamaru could've sworn he'd won for real once…

Shikamaru took a seat by Chouji on a couch, and his childhood friend handed him a shot glass filled with sake. "So, who knows where Neji is?" Kiba asked.

"I think I heard that he has a mission." Shikamaru said. The other guys nodded with understanding.

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing," Naruto said. "So how about it?"

Everyone joined in and soon the drinking games had begun. Time began to blur to Shikamaru's senses. He did remember at some point telling everyone that he had to work with Temari again and that he received pitying looks and a couple of pats on the back.

Once Shikamaru had his fill of sake, which was just enough to walk home and only fall down once or twice on his way home, he left.

* * *

Shikamaru awoke and began his usual Saturday morning routine after a night at Kiba's. Take a very, _very_, cold shower, take a few headache pills, then sit in his favorite chair for around an hour while trying to sort out the last night's events.

After his hangover had basically subsided, Shikamaru began to read the paperwork for the Chunin Exams this year. Applicants, anything special about them, or anything like that. _Sand is looking strong this year. Grass looks better than it has in a long time_, Shikamaru thought to himself. He looked over Konoha's own applicants and frowned. As he looked at the teams, he realized that Konoha would be lucky to get any teams into the last leg of the exam this year.

He sighed. Tsunade wouldn't be happy about that.

As he kept looking through the papers from Suna he found a note from Temari specifically addressed to him.

It read,

_Dear Baka Shikamaru,_

_If you aren't at the gate to pick me up this year, I'll personally shove my fan down your throat. Also, I noticed that Konoha's teams aren't looking good this year. I need you to check this out for me. See if this is for real or if it's an error in the paperwork. Though I doubt an error could be this big. I'd like you to find out before I get there. If you don't, consider your wallet mine, which I will happily use the money in to buy myself a nice pair of shoes, and a…_

Shikamaru stopped reading there. He didn't need read the list of around twenty items taking up the rest of the note. He sighed. _Why does she always have to do things like this? _He thought.

_Troublesome_, he thought before leaving to check into Konoha's papers.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto

* * *

Temari walked along the dusty path to Konoha. She normally didn't travel as fast as she could have. She liked to be prepared, unlike a certain lazy Konoha Jonin.

Temari looked around her, noticing that the lush plants and trees were such a contrast to her own barren home. She thought about the rather abrupt change that led to her leaving Wind Country and entering Fire country. It was as if trees just started to appear out of thin air. Before she noticed, she was engulfed in trees.

Of course, she'd traveled this route many times over the past few years. Being the liaison between Suna and Konoha ensured that she had plenty of trips to Konoha. Although she wouldn't openly admit to anyone in Suna but her brothers, she secretly enjoyed the trips to Konoha. It was a chance to experience a different culture than her own, and to see the friends she'd made over time. Tenten was an especially good friend of hers. After they'd worked together on a few missions, Temari found that she enjoyed Tenten's conversations. They'd stayed in contact, mostly through friendly letters and such.

Of course, there was Shikamaru as well. She didn't know how to describe her feelings for her guide. She didn't know a word that would let her describe how she felt about him. It was more like a mixture of anger, mild dislike, friendship, and irritation. On one hand, she enjoyed spending time with him (sometimes) and he was intelligent enough to have a decent conversation (when he wanted to), but he also irritated her to no end.

He seemed to have a similar mixture of emotions toward her. He sometimes seemed to enjoy spending time with her, but other times, he would try his best to avoid her.

Temari shook her head to get rid of these plaguing thoughts. She focused once more on the road, towards her destination. Absentmindedly she thought, _I wonder if I get to steal his wallet or not…_

* * *

Shikamaru leaned lazily against the large gate that guarded Konoha. He was out of the sun's reach in the shadows, and his hands were almost reflexively in his pockets.

His eyes were half-lidded, and he felt as though he might fall asleep any moment. It was warm and cozy where he stood, which was just the kind of way he liked to sleep.

He fully closed his eyes but kept his chakra senses up. He wanted to be able to sense Temari before she arrived, so she couldn't sneak attack him. He grimly remembered once when he had received a fan to the gut.

After around half an hour, he felt a chakra that was probably Temari's. He opened his eyes and patiently waited.

When she stepped into view, Shikamaru realized that he hadn't seen her in quite a while. Her hair shone golden in the sun, almost making it look like she wore a halo, up in her customary four pigtails, of course. Her skin was more tan than he remembered, though he could have imagined it. He found the color of her skin pleasing to the eye, and he realized that most girls around Konoha didn't have a tan like that. He also noticed the expression her face wore at the moment, and he smirked. She didn't have anything to do except walk right now, so the expression was utter boredom. His eyes lazily drifted over her and he realized that she was wearing even more fishnet than usual. It covered both of her legs now, and all of her arms, which were bare now. She had dressed differently over the past six months. He suddenly realized that he had been staring at her for too long, and that she had probably noticed him looking her over.

Temari walked closer and he walked forward to meet her. He barely managed to dodge when she aimed a punch at his shoulder. He raised a curious eyebrow at her.

She merely flashed a smile and asked, "Like what you see? If you're going to ogle someone, make sure they don't notice."

Shikamaru was about to argue that he wasn't ogling her, but instead he said, "Surely, if I were ogling people, I could have found someone better to ogle."

Temari smirked as she passed him and said, "You wish. We both know there's no one like me in Konoha."

Shikamaru turned to follow her and said, "Well, that's true… But I don't know about the context you're talking about."

He barely managed to dodge an elbow aimed at him.

* * *

The pair walked through the streets of Konoha. It was midday and the streets were luckily clear enough to walk through in the market. Shikamaru obediently followed Temari to the market, knowing exactly what she wanted to do.

Every year since she'd been the liaison between Suna and Konoha, Temari insisted upon buying souvenirs for her friends back home. If Shikamaru's memory served him correctly, there was a special guy back in Suna. What was his name…

Temari studied Shikamaru's face. She'd known him long enough to know how his mind worked. He carefully cataloged every piece of information he was given until a later time. Right now, she knew he was recalling all the facts he knew about her friends in Suna.

"His name is Koji." She said while browsing threw a cart's wares.

Recognition dawned on Shikamaru's face as he remembered. He watched Temari browse and said, "Doesn't it ever freak you out that you can do that?"

"The only thing that freaks me out about it is that I know you so well." Temari answered.

"Similar to how I know you well enough to dodge a few punches, I think."

"Remember, a _few_." Temari said with a smirk.

She continued to browse several stalls, picking out odd and random items. Shikamaru was growing bored until he asked something he didn't quite think about before he said it. "So what is this Koji guy like?"

Temari gave him a curious expression. He found himself staring at her cerulean eyes. "Why would you want to know?" she asked before returning to her shopping.

"Call me curious." Shikamaru answered.

"You know what they say about curiosity and the cat, don't you?"

"Call me a cat, then."

Temari smirked at him, but answered anyway. "He's just one of my friends who happens to be a guy. My brothers think I'm out to marry him though."

"Are you?" Shikamaru asked, leaning against a stall.

"What do you think?" Temari challenged.

"I think you're not exactly the marrying type." Shikamaru said.

Temari didn't answer, but just went on with her business.

A few stalls later, Shikamaru absentmindedly pinched the fishnet on Temari's shoulder and said, "Why the extra fishnet?"

"You have a problem with fishnet?" Temari said while swatting his hand away.

"No. I'm just wondering."

"Half your life is spent being curious isn't it?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment then said, "I wouldn't say half…"

"And the other half is spent being lazy." Temari said, interrupting him.

"That's not really fair," Shikamaru said. "Being a ninja has to fit in there somewhere."

"Yeah, for the whole five minutes a day you actually do your job." Temari said as a verbal jab.

"Apparently you forget that you lost in the Chunin Exams," Shikamaru said with a smirk. She hated when he mentioned that. "It seems I did my job better than you then."

Temari's eyes narrowed, and she said, "Flukes are a one time deal. I thought I proved that when I saved your butt from the Sound witch."

"I seem to remember that you charged in after I almost killed her." Shikamaru said, turning to get a better view of his verbal sparring partner. He tried not to focus on the bare skin her fishnet revealed on her shoulder.

"Details, details." Temari said as she handed him several items.

Grudgingly accepting his load, Shikamaru said, "You never did answer my original question about your fishnet."

Temari continued on to the next stall, she absently said, "I don't know. I just decided I liked this better one day."

Trying not to laugh, Shikamaru said, "You'd better be careful. You don't want to end up with an outfit like Anko's."

Temari turned to face him and asked, "What's so bad about her outfit?"

Shikamaru snickered and said, "You mean besides boys drooling over her and the other women talking about what a skank she is in the bathroom?"

"Point taken." Temari said. Then she subtly grinned and said, "Even though you know you'd like to see me in an outfit like that."

Shikamaru felt the blood rush to his face and was thankful he had the packages she'd handed him to hide behind.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry to the first 30 to 40 people you read the first chapter, because I totally forgot that doesn't recognize the lines you put into your document. I completely forgot you had to go into the Document doohickey and do it all over again. Apologies all.

Please leave me a review or pm if you want to have some input, and I eagerly welcome constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series

* * *

After Shikamaru and Temari's adventure to the marketplace was over, they made their way towards the Suna Embassy, where Temari lived while she was in Konoha. It was primarily a place for various Suna people to live while they ran their various errands to Konoha.

Shikamaru shifted his arms under the load of odd gifts Temari had bought. He noticed, much to his irritation, that Temari only had a slight load compared to his own. "How is it that _I _have to carry the majority of _your _gifts?" he asked.

Temari turned her head toward him and revealed her cerulean eyes. Shikamaru noticed the tan skin on her neck was slightly more tan that the skin on her shoulders. She must have switched to bare shoulders recently.

"I think," Temari said, "that being my guide makes you have numerous responsibilities. One of which is carrying anything I buy in Konoha." She flashed a smile.

Shikamaru stared at her toothy smile for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "How did I end up with this job?"

Temari shrugged. "How should I know? It's not like I personally requested you. At least not at first."

Shikamaru raised a curious eyebrow. "You requested after the first time then?"

Temari, her eyes back on the street in front of her, nodded her head. "After working with you once, I knew working with you again was a good idea. I'd gotten to know you, and I knew you would work, if I made you."

Shikamaru's mouth transformed into a trademark smirk, which he directed at Temari. "You're sure you aren't just giving Koji something to worry about?"

Temari's face reddened for just a moment. A moment so short, Shikamaru thought he'd imagined it. "Don't be stupid, pineapple-head." Temari retorted. "Who would think I'd be messing around with _you_?"

Shikamaru absently reached up and touched his hair with a free hand. Temari hadn't brought up his hair all day. It must have been a world record.

Shikamaru brought his free hand down to his heart, feigning pain. "Your words hurt me deeply."

Temari smiled a small smile, recognizing the line from a popular play in Wind Country.

"You've got the words mixed up, you know." Temari said.

"Oh?" Shikamaru asked, a questioning look on his face.

"Yeah, it actually goes, 'Your words _wound_ me deeply."

"Eh. That's all semantics."

"But don't you think it's that much better in the original context?"

"Who cares if they mean the same thing?" Shikamaru answered and Temari shrugged. He looked over his multiple goods and gifts and saw the Suna building approaching.

As the duo walked closer though, they saw a notice on the door.

It read:

_To Whom It May Concern:_

_This building has been infested with termites. The structure could collapse anytime. No one is allowed to enter the building. Not even if they think they can survive a house falling on them. NO ONE. Especially people whose names start with a T. And ends with EMARI. _

_--Godiame _

After examining the note, Shikamaru said, "I believe you've just been told to stay out of the Embassy in the broadest terms possible."

Temari sighed. "Where am I supposed to sleep now?"

Shikamaru shrugged. He didn't like where this was going, but…the sun was already going down, and Temari couldn't make arrangements with anyone this late. No choice. _Troublesome_, he thought.

"I think you're going to have to stay at my place." He said, trying to not make a big deal out of it.

His plan didn't work. "What?!" Temari practically exploded with surprise. "I can't stay at your place! What will people say?!"

Shikamaru sighed and wished he had a cigarette. "Look. We don't have a choice. It's getting late out. Besides, I've got a pull-out couch and everything. Its not a big deal."

Temari obviously didn't think so. "Maybe if we were in the field, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it is here in town. There's got to be somewhere else I can stay. What about Tenten's house?"

Shikamaru shook his head, wishing he had a cigarette more and more. "She's out on a mission."

"What about Sakura?"

"She works graveyard shifts at the hospital." Shikamaru felt like he was cutting down Temari's hopes one by one.

"Ino. Ino has to be in." Desperation was starting to fill Temari's face.

"She's with Tenten." This was kind of fun, actually.

"Hinata?" Temari asked weakly, though she wasn't expecting anything different.

"Actually," Shikamaru began. He could see Temari's face fill with hope, and grinned as he continued. "She's with Tenten also. It's a 3-_woman_ team."

Temari's face fell. She stood still for a few moments, then sighed, exhaling stress.

"I guess we really don't have a choice, huh?" She said after several minutes.

"No, not really." Shikamaru answered. "Now come on, before it gets dark."

"What, are you afraid of the dark?" Temari asked, grinning now. "Some ninja you are."

* * *

Shikamaru and Temari reached his house in a few minutes, considering it wasn't too far off from the Suna Embassy. Temari took in the small house. She'd seen it before, and she'd been here when Shikamaru had bought it. In fact, he'd asked her to help him pick it out. She remembered being surprised at him wanting her opinion on it.

It definitely wasn't the best Konoha had to offer, but Shikamaru had bought it when he was a chunin, so he wasn't making as much then. As Shikamaru fumbled with the lock, Temari looked at the small yard around the house. It was definitely just a starter house. Something small before Shikamaru moved into something larger.

Temari grinned as she remembered yelling at Shikamaru for even moving out of his family's house to begin with. She hadn't understood why he did it at the time. He had one of the best clans in Konoha. His family wasn't exactly royalty, but they definitely weren't poor, or even middle class. Temari had seen the huge amount of land and deer they owned.

As she was helping him pick out the house, she'd finally figured out why he wanted to move out. Or rather, she'd asked him.

"_Why are you doing this in the first place? Don't you want to live with your family and in your clan's house?" Temari asked. _

"_My family is a two minute walk from here. Chances are I'll still go over for a meal everyday. And of course I want live in my clan's house." He answered while looking over the small house. _

"_Then why?" _

_Shikamaru looked up and stared her in the eye. "I want the experience. The experience of being alone. Without family. Without anyone here. I want to see how I'll do. It'll give me time to reflect on life." _

_Temari stared back at him, trying to digest his words. _

_He turned back to looking at the house. "Besides," Shikamaru said. "I'll probably move out in a year or two." _

Shikamaru finally got the door open after an eternity of waiting. Temari pushed her past him and flicked on the light switch. It was the same small house she'd helped pick out, albeit a sure bachelor pad.

Shikamaru came in, dumping her gifts and purchases on his couch, and closed and locked the door.

Temari sat down her small pack, which she had been carrying around on her back. She turned around to see how the house had changed. There wasn't much too the house. A small kitchen that connected to a fair sized den. Farther down the hall was a modest bathroom and master bedroom. She scanned the living room and kitchen. Shikamaru had furnished the house since the last time she'd been here. A kitchen table with four chairs now sat in the middle of the kitchen. In the den rested the fold-out couch Shikamaru had promised, as well as several other chairs and seats. She seemed to recall the old, raggedy looking chair as Shikamaru's favorite.

"It's a bit nostalgic." Temari said.

"For you, I guess." Shikamaru said in answer. "But, more importantly, have you eaten anything yet?"

Temari placed a hand on her stomach. She had only eaten nutritious, but bland food on the road, and had been looking forward toward some Suna cooking when she reached the embassy. She was hungry, and wanted something that tasted good.

"No, I haven't." She answered. Shikamaru nodded and walked into the kitchen, shedding his Konoha combat vest on a kitchen chair.

"You can go ahead and take a shower if you want too." Shikamaru said from the kitchen. "Especially since you probably didn't have one for days, and I don't want you to stink up my house with that Suna smell."

Temari narrowed her eyes and picked up a random gift, a plush doll of Kakashi (yeah, they make those in Konoha), took aim, and hurled it at Shikamaru's pineapple-shaped head. A second later Temari heard triumph in the form of "Hey!" from Shikamaru. She raced down the hall towards the shower before any retaliation could come.

* * *

Shikamaru eyed the plush doll of Kakashi, the weapon of Temari's wrath. As he stared at it, he sort of wondered why they even made these things. Seriously, Kakashi lived in town and was an easygoing guy. He'd probably let a fan spend the day with him, especially a pretty girl fan.

Tossing the plush Kakashi back in with the various toys and returned to dinner. He was just making a simple noodle dish his mom had taught him long ago. It tasted good and wasn't too unhealthy either. Good dish.

He opened a drawer he was well acquainted with and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He brought out a lighter and lit up, taking in a long drag. As he did, he thought of Asuma. The memories hit him like taking a punch to the gut. He almost wondered why he smoked if it made him think of…

He was woken from his reverie by the noise of the shower kicking on, and a few minutes later, felt the air begin to moisten from hot water. He opened a window and, out of the corner of his eye, he spied something on his doorstep. He opened the door and looked downward. It was a red rose. They must have missed it in the dark coming in to the house. He handled it carefully, trying not to get pricked by any thorns, then noticed that all the thorns were cut off. Tied around with a pretty ribbon was a note in red paper. He red the note:

_Dearest Temari, _

_I'm so glad you came for a visit. I've been looking forward to talking to you for a long time. You don't know how many times I've wanted to confess myself to you, but couldn't find the courage. I hope to see you soon. _

_My Love_

_Anonymous_

Shikamaru read the letter a second time to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Someone in Konoha had a crush on Temari? Apparently for a long time too. It wasn't that it was unbelievable. Temari was actually really hot, no matter whether Shikamaru admitted that to himself or not.

But what Shikamaru had trouble understanding is that the admirer had obviously been close enough to have seen and heard Temari. The admirer would have to have figured out Temari was crazy at some point. And violent. And troublesome. And irritating. And…

Shikamaru heard the shower kick off. The bathroom door creaked open and he heard Temari's voice say, "Shikamaru? Could you hand me my bag? I left it in the den."

Shikamaru grinned widely. Payback time.

"What?" Shikamaru said. "I can't seem to hear you. My head is hurting from where I was hit with some sort of plush toy."

Silence.

Then, "Pineapple-head! Just give me my bag!"

Shikamaru grinned as he grabbed Temari's pack that she'd carelessly thrown on the couch. He walked to the bathroom door to see Temari's head barely poking out, her hair let down in a mess of wet hair. She blushed, and Shikamaru smirked. Finally getting over her embarrassment, she cautiously reached out an arm, trying not to expose any of her nudity to Shikamaru. Just when she was about to grab her pack, Shikamaru pulled it back slightly out of her reach. Temari almost fell over and caught herself on the door. Shikamaru, laughing, couldn't pull the bag back again before Temari had it and was hurriedly shutting the bathroom door.

Shikamaru laughed as he made his way back to the kitchen, ignoring the rose for now.

* * *

Temari, now out of the shower and into a pajama shirt and pajama pants, made her way to the kitchen. To her surprise, it actually smelled pretty good. She saw Shikamaru already at the table slurping down some noodles. He wore his own black pajama pants and a black T-shirt.

Shikamaru noticed her and waved his hand towards a pot of noodles. "Help yourself."

Temari mumbled her thanks and stole a bowl away from the cabinet, then spooned herself some noodles.

After she had sat down and was eating, she noticed that Shikamaru was intently studying her. She felt a slight amount of blood rise to her face, and rose her eyes to meet his.

"What?" She mumbled through a mouthful of noodles.

Shikamaru hesitantly averted his eyes back to his own noodles and said, "It's nothing. I was just looking at your hair. It looks weird let down."

Temari pulled her hair a bit. She didn't wear it down much at all. "You like it better in the ponytails?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Maybe I'm just used to seeing the ponytails."

Temari suddenly got a great idea. She 'accidentally' dropped her chopsticks and let out an expletive to make the illusion seem more real.

Shikamaru turned his eyes her way and said, "There are some more in that drawer," nodding in a direction with his head.

Temari nodded and headed in the direction Shikamaru pointed too. Luckily, it required her to pass directly behind Shikamaru. That's where her ebil plan would be put into motion.

When Temari was close enough to Shikamaru, she leapt as fast as she could and reached for his pineapple-shaped head. Shikamaru, vaguely aware that she was moving towards his head, tried to duck but failed.

Temari got a hold of Shikamaru's cranium and felt for the tie that held his hair.

"What are you doing?!" Shikamaru yelled as he tried to get Temari to let go of his noggin.

"HOLD STILL!" Temari yelled louder.

Temari finally found the tie and pulled it, making it break.

She heard a _SNAP!_ sound then beheld the fruits of her labor.

Shikamaru's hair fell down around his face, enclosing it, some hair even dropping down to his shoulders.

Temari looked at him for a moment, then said, "I like it better this way."

Shikamaru pushed some hair out of his eyes to give her a glare. "Very mature." he said. "Maybe I won't tell you about your secret admirer now."

_That_ struck Temari's interest. She whip lashed her head towards him and said, "What?"

"Somebody sent you a love letter signed anonymous," Shikamaru said, as he searched for another hair tie in his pocket. "It was attached to a rose."

Shikamaru pointed towards the den and Temari practically ran to the rose.

Shikamaru, tying his hair like he liked it, walked over and saw Temari's cerulean eyes widen as she read the letter.

* * *

Sorry it took me a little longer to get this one out. But if it makes you feel any better I worked on it for a long time yesterday. So long that I didn't want to post it right then, so I waited till today. Please enjoy and leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Not the series or universe.

* * *

Temari's eyes widened as she read the letter and looked at the rose. Shikamaru thought that he detected a hint of fear in her eyes, but he told himself that it was his imagination…

Until he saw Temari run towards the window and frantically look outside.

"What's wrong?" He asked Temari, now clearly sensing her panic and worry. And even fear.

"When did the rose get here?" Temari asked, shutting the window and closing his curtains. The panic was clear in her voice.

"I think it was here before we arrived," Shikamaru said. "What's going on?"

Temari grabbed the rose and letter and examined them closely. She spotted a symbol on the letter that looked familiar. "The Yamanaka flower shop!" Temari exclaimed. "That's where he sent them from!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. Temari headed towards the door. "Are they still open?" She asked Shikamaru, franticness filling her voice now.

Shikamaru grabbed her arm. She turned her head and looked at him, her eyes questioning. "Slow down," Shikamaru said. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

Temari pulled at her arm for a moment, but realized Shikamaru wasn't going to let go. Doing as he had instructed, she took a deep breath. She felt calmer and Shikamaru saw that she visibly calmed as well.

Temari began to explain. "No one knows about this except my brothers, so promise me you won't tell anyone."

Shikamaru stared at her eyes and said, "I'm not going to tell anyone."

Temari eyes softened and she said, "Thank you." She moved to couch and sat down while Shikamaru sat in his favorite chair.

Temari began. "A little while ago in Suna, I received a rose with a letter attached, just like the one tonight. At first, I thought it was simply a secret admirer. I was flattered too. The letters and roses kept coming, and for the longest time, I thought it was just a secret admirer. But the letters took a…" Temari searched for the word. "vulgar turn."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Vulgar? How so?"

Temari fidgeted and looked uncomfortable about sharing the details. "He described what he wanted to do to me, and it was just…"

Shikamaru interrupted her before she could continue. "Say no more. I get it. So, you've basically got a sick-minded stalker."

Temari nodded. "I told Gaara and Kankuro. Gaara started an investigation. I'd thought that they'd found the guy, but apparently not." She frowned.

Shikamaru held his hands in front of his face, deep in thought. Finally he said, "You know, you are a ninja. If it was just a normal person…"

Temari shook her head. "We have reason to believe it's a ninja. The roses always appear without notice. No normal person could do that."

Shikamaru nodded his head. They sat in silence for a time, then Shikamaru said, "So…how scared are you?"

Temari's eyes looked downward. "It feels like I'm being watched all the time, like nothing is—

"Safe anymore." Shikamaru finished for her. "I know how you feel. A while ago, a large bounty was put on my head. Not the kind of bounty that goes in the bingo book. A bounty that people actively try to claim. Ninjas came to my house all the time. I had to have an ANBU guard when I slept."

"What happened?" Temari asked, hugging her knees to her chest on the couch.

"The ANBU and I killed so many ninja that the guy who put the bounty on me decided it wasn't going to happen and took the bounty off." Shikamaru said in a deadpan voice.

* * *

Shikamaru laid a few blankets on the small pallet he put in his room. His original plan was to let Temari have his bed, and he would take the couch. But he could see the fear in Temari's eyes and knew that she wouldn't sleep very easy tonight. So, he laid a pallet out in front of the door to his room. He would still be in the room with her, and anyone trying to go through the door would wake him up.

Shikamaru sighed. This was one of the things that had given him a lot of comfort when the bounty was placed on him. An ANBU would sleep in front of the door. As he looked back, he knew it really didn't do much good. Any skilled ninja could find a different way in. But it was more of a psychological comfort.

He glanced over towards Temari. She was already in bed, wrapping the blankets around her. He threw a smile her way and said, "It will be ok. We'll worry about this tomorrow."

Temari gave him a nervous smile, nodded, and said, "Goodnight Shikamaru. And…thank you."

Shikamaru nodded and hit the lights, then laid down on his pallet.

It was quiet for a few moments before Shikamaru said, "Besides, it's not like you have a bounty on your head." Temari threw a pillow at him.

* * *

Shikamaru awoke too the sound of Temari moving outside in the hall. He groggily leaned upward and looked through the open door.

Temari looked refreshed after a night of sleep. She no longer appeared nervous or panicky. She had regained her confidence, and Shikamaru could tell that her stalker would be sorry if he approached her today.

Lazily, Shikamaru got off his pallet and stretched out, awakening all of his sleeping muscles. Temari heard his movement and turned, watching him stretch.

Shikamaru walked down the hall and said, "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good, considering." Temari answered, heading towards the kitchen.

"Considering what?" Shikamaru said, teasing. "That you're the most troublesome woman in the world?"

Temari reached into the kitchen for something to throw, and grabbed a used chopstick. She hurled it his way, playfulness mixed with irritation on her face.

Shikamaru lazily dodged the chopstick. He grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at her, all the while saying "Troublesome."

Temari caught the pillow and ran towards Shikamaru, beating him with the pillow. Finally, after several seconds of fun, Shikamaru cried, "OK troublesome woman! You've made your point!"

Temari relented with a triumphant look on her face. "Whose troublesome now?" She asked with a coy look on her face.

"I'm pretty sure its still you." Shikamaru said as he walked toward the kitchen.

* * *

The Stalker watched Shikamaru and Temari tease and talk throughout breakfast. He watched behind bushes and trees, through a window in Shikamaru's house. He looked at Temari with hungry eyes. The kind on hunger that can't be filled with food.

Hunger. The Hunger was all the Stalker knew anymore. He'd had one conquest after another, yet he was still hungry. He'd stalked different women, but Temari had caught his eye while he was in Suna. He'd seen her and had determined there and then to make her his next conquest.

But she was…different. She wasn't frail or weak like the other women who had satisfied the Hunger. She was a shinobi like him. And she was strong.

He wanted her more than any other woman. He was hungrier when he was near her than any other time. He had meant to trap her while she was traveling to Konoha. He meant to wait until she stopped by a tea house, or a rest area, where other people would be there, and he wouldn't be suspicious. But she hadn't stopped. She just kept on traveling.

He had wanted to try to befriend her while she sat and drank her tea, then sneak a strong sedative in her cup. But she walked all the way to Konoha.

And now, the Stalker's conquest over Temari was twice as hard. Now he had to deal with two powerful and resourceful ninja.

But he would do it. The Hunger overwhelmed him. He had to have her.

* * *

Shikamaru and Temari walked towards the Hokage's tower. Upon Shikamaru's insistence, Temari had agreed to tell Tsunade about her situation. Hopefully, Tsunade would assign a group of ANBU to look for the stalker.

The pair entered the tower and skipped through the line. Shikamaru pushed open the large doors that led to Tsunade's office. Temari slipped inside and Shikamaru tried to close the doors quietly. Yet they still made their characteristic booming sound. _251 failed closings_, thought Shikamaru.

Shikamaru turned his head and surveyed Tsunade's office. She sat in her chair while listening to Neji make a report. Probably of the secret mission he'd been on. Neji finished, bowed, and turned to leave. As they passed each other, Shikamaru said, "It was nice to not have to save you this time."

Neji glanced back at Shikamaru and said, "Believe me, it was nice to not _need_ saving." Neji opened the huge doors and they made the booming noise again.

Shikamaru turned to Tsunade and said, "Godaime, I think Temari has something to tell you…"

* * *

Temari finished and looked at Tsunade. She didn't think she'd ever seen the Hokage more thoughtful-looking. Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed, then reached for a bottle of sake she'd hidden in one of her drawers. She took a swig and said, "So you think this stalker is a shinobi?"

Temari nodded. "I also think he followed me here from Suna, and is now in the area."

Tsunade sighed and took another swig of sake. "I guess we'll have to put some ANBU on it. This guy sounds far too dangerous to just let him walk around free. I also don't think Gaara would like it if his sister was attacked while in Konoha."

Temari blushed. She'd kind of forced Tsunade into this position by telling her.

"You'll also have an ANBU bodyguard." Tsunade said.

Temari frowned. Having a bodyguard in the shinobi world was a sign of weakness. Sure, Shikamaru was _technically_ her bodyguard, but he was also her partner on the chunin exams. "But, Hokage-sama, Shikamaru is already my bodyguard, surely we can—''

Tsunade held up a hand for silence. "No negotiation on this." Tsunade called an aide into the room and told her to call an ANBU. "You'll meet him outside." Tsunade said to Shikamaru and Temari.

* * *

Temari and Shikamaru hurried out of the Hokage's office and made their way outside the building. They saw the ANBU waiting outside for them.

Temari took a moment to examine him. He wore the ANBU uniform, of course. He was around as tall as Shikamaru, maybe taller, and he had short brown hair behind his mask. She examined the mask, and found that it was clearly a bird, with blue marks streaming downwards from the eye holes. They almost looked like tears.

It was clear that he was staring at them, though you could never be entirely sure with ANBU. The black eye holes in their masks totally concealed their eyes, so you couldn't be sure where their eyes were pointing.

Temari sighed. She, like most ninja _not_ in the ANBU, had a distinctive dislike of them. They worked outside the normal chain of command. And although they worked for the good of their village, they would do just about anything that required. And if the good of the village meant killing someone they were supposed to protect, so be it.

The ANBU extended his hand, and Shikamaru shook it.

"Hi," the ANBU said in a deep voice. "I'll be protecting you for the next few weeks. My name is Blue Heron."

* * *

The three of them headed towards Shikamaru's house. Temari and Shikamaru walked side by side, and Heron brought up the rear.

"So you'll stay out of sight most of the time?" Temari asked.

"Yes," answered Heron. "You two won't even be able to see me. If you can, I'm doing something wrong. Hopefully, the stalker won't even know I'm here."

"What will you do the whole time?" Temari asked.

"Watch you." Heron said, as if the question was a simple one.

"Just watch us?" Temari asked.

"Just watch you." Heron assured her.

"Darn responsible of you." Shikamaru said, jumping into the conversation. "I'd at least have to take a nap every now and then. Or some sort of mental activity."

"I'll reflect," Heron said. "I'll reflect on my life, on the situation, on anything else."

"That's a lot of reflection." Shikamaru said. "I mean really, wouldn't you run out of—''

Temari cut him off with "Crap!"

Shikamaru and Heron looked to where Temari was pointing and saw a single red rose lying on Shikamaru's doorstep. The thorns were clipped off and a small note was attached.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey everybody, (I can say that now, because I think I have 120 people actually reading this fic), sorry this took me so long to get out. But, believe it or not, I actually had a fairly busy week, which included looking at a potential college. It didn't help that I was having technical difficulties with my computer (I lost about 700 words of fic), and it also didn't help that decided to changed a bunch of stuff (which took me several minutes to figure out).

So hopefully the next chapter won't take this long to get out.

Also, I know this chapter was a lot more serious than the other chapters, but I promise that in the next chapter, the mood will be...lightened.

Please leave a review. Everybody have a good day.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way.

* * *

The Stalker watched as Temari read his letter aloud while Shikamaru and the ANBU listened. The Stalker smiled to himself. That letter was one of the more…vulgar ones. He felt the Hunger grow as he saw Temari blush from the reading of the some of the especially naughty parts.

The feeling of adrenaline left him though, and the Stalker was forced to accept reality. He would have to deal with three shinobi now, one of whom was an ANBU. Of course, they'd never be able to find the Stalker. The Stalker's own particular skill set lay in stealth. He came up short in actual battle, but they wouldn't find him.

The Stalker continued to stare at Temari. He took in every detail of her, undressing her with his eyes. The Hunger grew, and the Stalker wanted to feed it soon.

* * *

_The next day…_

Shikamaru sighed and stared at the paperwork he was supposed to be doing. He glanced over at Temari, who was steadily filling out forms and paperwork for the chunin exams. Shikamaru smiled a little at her. Even after finding the note and rose yesterday, Temari was looking…optimistic, considering the circumstances. She'd said she wanted to do the 'responsible thing' and continue working on the chunin exams.

Temari noticed him looking at her and Shikamaru turned away, surprised he'd been caught up in his reflection.

"Shouldn't you be working on your paperwork?" Temari asked, being all business.

"Shouldn't you be a little bit more laid back?" Shikamaru retorted.

"I can be laid back when I want to be," Temari said, returning to her paperwork, "but right now we need to work. We're already around a day behind due to the whole stalker thing."

"Which is clearly your fault," Shikamaru said, returning to his papers as well. "If you hadn't brought your troublesome stalker with you, we'd be a day ahead."

"It's not like I can control what someone entranced with my beauty does," Temari said with a coy look. "I've even seen some guys go crazy at the sight of me."

"Yeah," Shikamaru said, "trying to get away from you." He ducked a pencil thrown at him.

The worked in silence for several minutes before Temari casually said, "I hear there's a party tonight."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Who's going?" Temari asked. Shikamaru thought she was being awfully curious.

"Mostly in and around my age group. Why do you want to know?" Shikamaru asked.

"I was thinking that I might try and go. I haven't seen a lot of my Konoha friends lately, so…"

"So you want to go to the party," Shikamaru finished. He sighed. "You sure are troublesome. Now I have to watch you when we go to the party." He smirked and added, "You sure Koji wouldn't be a little jealous? I mean, we'll be together, at a party…"

"Shut up, pineapple-head," Temari said defensively. "I've told you already, Koji is just a good friend who happens to be a guy."

"You know," Shikamaru said, "Some people say that guys and girls can't be friends without having sex."

Temari snorted. "Some people also thought the world was flat."

Shikamaru smirked. "Point taken." He yawned and stretched, working muscles that he hadn't used in the hours of filling out paperwork. "Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

"Of course not," Temari said with a smirk. "Besides, even if you weren't my guide, I could still make you go."

"Oh really?" Shikamaru asked, glancing Temari's direction. His eyes landed on the thigh that Temari's skirt was showing. With a force of will, he forced himself to look upward.

"Yeah," Temari said coyly. "I think you remember how I convinced you to do paperwork, right?"

Shikamaru winced and continued with his work.

* * *

Shikamaru had changed into a much more casual outfit of a black T-shirt and black jeans, while Temari had changed into a purple dress that ended at her knees and bared her shoulders. The pair approached the restaurant where the party was supposed to be. The sun had already retreated behind the horizon and let the moon take over it's position. The air was chill with night and wrapped the pair in its cold arms.

The restaurant was one of Konoha's more prominent ones. It had some of the best food in the village and it came with a party area. A large bouncer stood at the door, boasting of the restaurant's security. Too bad any ninja wanting entrance could easily sneak in.

The bouncer stopped them at the door and said, "Invitation only."

Shikamaru showed the man his invite and pointed towards Temari, saying, "She's with me."

The bouncer shook his head and said, "Each one of you needs an invite."

"What?" Shikamaru asked. "Look, I know the people hosting this thing, just go get one of them and—''

"It doesn't work that way," The bouncer said, cutting him off. "She needs an invitation."

Shikamaru sighed, turned to Temari, and said, "You _are_ a troublesome woman."

Temari grabbed Shikamaru's arm and said, "It's ok. Let's just go."

Shikamaru wrestled his arm from Temari's grasp and said, "It's not ok. This is a stupid policy." He turned towards the bouncer, reaching for his pocket. He pulled out his leaf headband and showed it to the bouncer. "I'm a ninja. See that?"

The bouncer shrugged. "So what? That doesn't make any difference." The bouncer puffed up, trying to look intimidating. To any normal person, he would have been terrifying. As Shikamaru was a shinobi, it didn't really bother him.

Shikamaru stood cool and relaxed in the wake of the bouncer's attempted intimidation. "So _what_? What that means, my testosterone-empowered friend, is that I have the ability to put you out of business, right here, right now."

_That_ blew some of the hot air out of the bouncer. "What did you say? You can't do that." the bouncer said with an incredulous look on his face. Shikamaru also saw some concern.

"Oh I can do that," Shikamaru said coolly. "Surely you know that shinobi control this entire village. Even the businesses. And if my friend and I aren't let in soon, I'll go in myself and tell every single one of my shinobi friends how we were mistreated by this bouncer outside. Of course, I imagine you'll lose some business if I do that."

The bouncer's eyes were bugging out now. Real concern was showing on his face.

"And," Shikamaru continued, "I might also let it slip to a shinobi in a more powerful position. Someone like…the Hokage?"

The bouncer was sweating now. "Y-Y-You can go in. It's n-n-no trouble at all."

Shikamaru nodded and grabbed Temari's arm, who was standing open-mouthed. He dragged her through the door and said to the bouncer, "Thank you, my good man. And if I were you…I might suggest to my boss to change that particular policy."

* * *

Temari was still open-mouthed when they got inside. She felt Shikamaru pulling her towards the party area, but before they reached it, she stopped, halting Shikamaru's progress.

"What did you just do?" Temari said in a supposedly hushed voice, thought it came out much louder than she thought it would. It was very dark in the restaurant, and she was having trouble making out Shikamaru's face. The constant buzzing of music also made it slightly hard to concentrate.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. "I got you in. I thought you'd be a little more grateful."

Temari composed herself a little. Shikamaru was right, he had gotten her in. "You're right and thank you. But did you have to do it like that?"

More eyebrow raising. "Like what?"

"Like scaring the crap out of that guy. He was just trying to do his job." Temari said.

Shikamaru folded his arms and said, "He was discriminating against us. I've seen him let in non-shinobi without an invitation a lot of times." Shikamaru smirked his trademark smirk and said, "I didn't know you cared so much about random people."

Temari blushed. She hoped that the darkness wouldn't allow Shikamaru to see her face too clearly. She felt him grab her arm again and say, "Come on, let's go."

They entered the party area and saw that around eighty shinobi at and around Shikamaru's age were there. It was a fairly large room, so there was plenty of space. Around half the number were on the dance floor, dancing to their heart's desire. Temari even thought she saw someone doing the robot. The music played, loudly enough to dance too, but quiet enough that you could talk. The other half of the group were scattered in a loose circle around the dance circle, most talking, some couples curled up together in a knot of human limbs.

She saw Shikamaru move, though it wasn't easy since he was wearing black in a dark room. Temari saw that he was heading towards the area where his friends were situated, sitting in either chairs, booths, or on the floor.

They noticed Shikamaru and Temari approaching and everyone said some form of greeting. Sakura got up and walked towards Temari and said, "Temari! It's been too long. Are you here for the chunin exams?"

Temari nodded her head. "I'm working with Shikamaru again."

"Oh yeah? How's that?" Sakura asked with a smile.

"About the same as always," Temari said. "I'll let you decipher that."

Sakura laughed and pulled Temari towards the girl's corner of where the group sat.

* * *

Shikamaru watched as Sakura grabbed Temari and led her to where the other girls were sitting. Satisfied Temari was safe enough for now, he joined the males of the group, taking a seat near the booth where Chouji was sitting.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled, appearing next to Shikamaru out of nowhere. "You're just in time. We're trying to tell Chouji the best way to ask Ino to dance."

Shikamaru looked at his childhood friend and smirked. Everyone except Ino knew about Chouji's crush on her. Every now and then, Chouji would work up enough courage to make an advance on Ino, though it usually ended up badly for him.

"Why would you ask me?" Shikamaru asked. "It's not like I have a great record with women."

"Well," Kiba said. "We just thought that you would know something about women, seeing as how you and Temari are rooming together."

Shikamaru's smirk stayed on his face, and he heard countless "Ooohs," "Awws," and even a whistle.

"It's not like that. The Suna Embassy is having some problems. She didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Sure, sure," Kiba said, still ribbing Shikamaru. "But I bet seeing her after a shower is a nice bonus."

Shikamaru elbowed Kiba, who laughed along with the rest of the group, despite Shikamaru's attack.

* * *

Eventually, Temari and Shikamaru reunited. Shikamaru was sitting in a booth, entertaining himself with a shogi board. Temari slid in on the other side of the booth and said, "Dancing isn't your thing?" and motioned to the dance floor, where almost everyone in their circle of friends was dancing now.

"I can't dance at all. You?" Shikamaru said with a shrug.

"I couldn't find anyone to dance with. At least not anyone worthwhile."

Shikamaru rearranged the pieces on the shogi board and asked, "You up for a game?"

Temari shrugged, and Shikamaru tried not to focus on the golden skin of her shoulders. "Sure," Temari said. "I haven't played in a while though."

They began the game and Shikamaru said, "It's a shame Koji isn't here, huh?"

Temari gave him the evil eye and said, "Why do you say that?"

Shikamaru answered, "Because then you would have had someone worthwhile to dance with."

Temari smiled and said, "Well, there is someone here I would dance with, but he can't dance."

Shikamaru looked up from the board. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Temari said with a smirk. "But he's kind of a lazy jerk too, so I'm not entirely sure if I'd dance with him or not."

"Maybe he wouldn't dance with _you_," Shikamaru said. "After all, you are pretty troublesome for a woman."

"Oh, I know he'd dance with me," Temari said coyly. "I'm always catching him staring at me…"

Shikamaru softly threw a shogi pawn at her and said, "You know, if you danced with him, it might be child molestation, if it went too far. After all, he's 17 and you are…?"

"Twenty," Temari said as she took out one of Shikamaru's pieces.

"In fact," Shikamaru said while looking around the room. "I think it would be child molestation if you got too far with…half the people here."

"Who said I was talking about anyone your age?" Temari retorted. "Maybe I meant Neji Hyuuga."

Shikamaru glanced towards Neji's direction, where he was dancing a slow song with Tenten. He also noticed Chouji dancing with Ino a few feet away. "Well…he can be a jerk sometimes, but I don't really think 'lazy' fits him. And I think he's taken."

"Maybe I'll fight Tenten for him," Temari challenged, realizing that she was growing irritated.

"Yeah, because I'm sure you want your kids to wear a curse mark their whole lives," Shikamaru muttered.

"What if I meant Roc Lee?" Temari asked. She was really irritated now. She really just wanted to dance with Shikamaru, but he wasn't reacting as she'd hoped he would.

"Because Roc Lee is the epitome of laziness." Shikamaru said with a smirk.

Temari jumped up, shoved the shogi board, and slammed her hands on the table. "Do you want to dance or not?" she asked heatedly.

Shikamaru lazily got up and said, "If you'll calm down and not kill me, I'll try really hard."

Temari smirked triumphantly and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the dance floor.

* * *

The Stalker watched them. He'd been hoping to try and get near Temari during the party, but she'd been surrounded by her friends the whole time, who were also powerful ninja. Now she sat with that Shikamaru guy, playing shogi, and if he had to guess, flirting. He almost envied them for the sort of normal relationship they had. He said sort of because he didn't think most normal people threw so many things at each other.

The Stalker _almost_ envied them. Then he thought about how many women he'd slept with and got over it.

He hadn't started out this way. He could remember the time when he couldn't even feel the Hunger. But, of course, he grew into a teenager and had hormones. He couldn't say the hormones made him like this because every guy had hormones. But he hadn't given a crap about such petty things like morality and honor, so he slept with as many girls and women as he could.

_Then_ he felt the Hunger. When he'd had so much sex that he constantly wanted more of it. That's when he began to feel the Hunger.

After that, he been on a mission to constantly feed the Hunger. He used to keep count of how many women he'd slept with, but he lost count after three hundred. Now the Stalker only remembered the exceptional ones. The ones he wanted more than anyone else. Temari was such a one.

The Stalker watched as Temari practically threw the shogi board off the table and demand that Shikamaru dance with her. It had been harder for the Stalker since yesterday. The ANBU was good. Better than most. But the Stalker wasn't one of the top assassins in his country for nothing. As he walked through the party crowd, he made sure he wasn't conspicuous. He laid the rose on Shikamaru and Temari's table. They were dancing, so they didn't notice him, even though he was only a few feet away. The Stalker knew that it would be several more minutes before they even noticed the rose. And he would be long gone by then.

* * *

Author's Note: I actually got done with this yesterday, but wanted to wait until I thought more people would be online to post it. So sorry to all of you who wanted me to update really, really bad. But if it makes you feel any better, you're getting what _I_ think is a better version of this chapter because of the time I spent editing it.

So, the big election day is finally here, huh? Well, I hope we get the best possible man for the job. So, everybody vote for the independents this year.

Fun Fact of the Day: Originally this story was supposed to be a one-shot. But, as I neared the 2,000 word mark, I realized I can't write one-shots. I have to have a plot to be able to write. Like a long plot. Not just, "they met, they talked, they made out."

Anyways, please leave a review. I'd be extremely grateful, and I hope you guys get some enjoyment out of this fic. If so, please tell me.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series in any way.

Temari laughed at Shikamaru's attempts to dance. He was one of the most intelligent people she knew, a master strategist, and a powerful shinobi. But he couldn't dance worth crap.

Laughing, she made her way back to their table, Shikamaru following behind her, trying not to look to embarrassed about dancing so badly. It was then that she saw it. The rose was lying on the table. The thorns were cut off, and a note was attached. She nearly screamed. But somehow, she managed to keep control of herself. Shikamaru saw her abruptly stop walking and peered around her, then saw the rose.

He grabbed her and pulled her out of the building, all the while looking around them in every direction. By the time they got outside, Blue Heron was waiting for them.

"Where is this guy?" Shikamaru asked in a hushed tone.

"He disappeared into the crowd after he planted the rose," Heron said. "I learned something though. He's good. He knew exactly where I was and turned his back to me the whole time."

Shikamaru nearly cursed. "I'm really beginning to hate this guy."

Heron nodded and said, "You two should try to just quietly go home. Try to slip out without the stalker noticing."

Shikamaru nodded and pulled Temari along with him, walking in the direction of his house.

* * *

Temari sat on the couch, sipping some tea Shikamaru had brewed. Shikamaru sat in his favorite chair, and it was obvious that he was deep in thought. His brown furrowed, and he leaned his face on one hand.

He looked at Temari. He had slipped a drug that would make her sleepy into the tea, in the hopes that she would go to bed early and get some rest. He personally knew that it wasn't easy to sleep knowing someone was after you. That's why he gave her a double dose. He saw her eyes flutter between open and closed and walked down the hall. He returned with a blanket and pillow, wrapping the blanket around Temari's now sleeping body and gently stuffing the pillow under Temari's head.

He walked to a bookshelf in his den and retrieved a book from the shelf, then plopped down in his favorite chair. He opened the book and read it for several hours, occasionally getting up to fix himself some more tea, making sure he added plenty of caffeine. At around three in the morning, he grabbed his phone from the kitchen and began dialing.

* * *

Shikaku Nara grumbled a curse as the phone rang, waking him up. He considered not moving, and letting his wife pick up the phone, but he realized that Yoshino was an extremely heavy sleeper, and that she would never wake up for a phone. He also considered not answering…but it could be important. Mumbling another curse, Shikaku got out of bed and groggily walked toward the phone.

"Hello?" He mumbled.

"Hi, Dad," his son's voice answered.

"This better be good son," Shikaku said. "I was in the middle of a particularly pleasant dream. So many clouds…"

"It'll have to wait Dad," Shikamaru said. "I have something I really need to tell you…"

* * *

Shikaku listened through the whole story about Temari's stalker. When Shikamaru finished, Shikaku said, "That's not good. But I'm not sure why you're telling me this."

"I want to move Temari and myself in the house." Shikamaru said. "The seals are still active, right?"

"Of course." Shikaku said. "Their as strong as ever. Our ancestors wanted us to be protected after all."

"Good. I've got a plan…" Shikamaru said.

* * *

Temari awoke to find Shikamaru packing a bag. She saw her own bag beside his.

"What are you doing?" She asked groggily, stretching to wake up her body.

Shikamaru glanced her direction. Try as he might, he couldn't force himself to stop admiring her body as she stretched.

Finally, he said, "We're leaving this house."

That woke Temari up. "What? Where will we go?"

Shikamaru finished packing and zipped up his bag. "We're going to my family's house. There are seals all over the place there, plus my father and mother, who are also shinobi. We'll be even safer there."

Temari kicked the blanket off of her and said, "You're taking this really seriously aren't you?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru said. "And you should be too."

* * *

The Stalker watched as Shikamaru and Temari packed their bags and left, heading towards a very large house. The Stalker had done his homework though, so he knew that the large house was the Nara family's house.

The Stalker's eye twitched in annoyance as he felt the ANBU search for him. This Heron guy was good. He was much more annoying than the stalker had originally anticipated. The Stalker had to be much more careful since the party went on. He had taken a risk at the party, but it was necessary to leave the rose.

The Stalker jumped through several trees, traveling to the Nara estate. Once he arrived, he cautiously stayed on the very outside of the estate. He had researched this place and learned that many seals guarded the house. Seals designed to target someone like him.

He licked his lips hungrily. The Stalker knew he couldn't get to Temari while she was in the Nara household. It was just too risky. He would have to get her sometime else…sometime when she was vulnerable.

Then the Stalker smiled as he came up with a plan.

* * *

_A few days later…_

Shikamaru looked around the room full of genin waiting to take the chunin exam. Despite all of the business with the stalker, he and Temari had got the exams up and running.

He glanced at the various chunin assigned to help him during the written part of the exam. He sighed, thinking about how troublesome it was that he was named one of the proctors.

As Shikamaru glanced around the room again, he realized that not too long ago, he was one of those genin, waiting to take the chunin exam. No idea what was happening, no clue how to pass the exam, and almost no real ninja skills.

Mentally forcing the nostalgia to leave him, Shikamaru shouted, "All right! This is the written portion of the chunin exams! Now listen up. I'll only say this once, so if you miss something, good luck…"

* * *

Shikamaru looked around the schoolroom full of genin taking the written portion of the exam. Of course, they weren't actually graded. The exam hadn't changed since he had taken it. Of course, the jonin exam was a different story…

Shikamaru looked at several genin who were all panicking. Not a good thing to do while taking the written portion of the test. He also noticed several other genin trying to discreetly cheat. Some were good at it, others weren't. The ones that weren't got called out by the chunin sentries, making their whole team lose.

Shikamaru glanced at the clock. Time was almost up…

* * *

Temari burst through the window just as Shikamaru finished his speech to the genin who passed the written portion. Like him, Temari had been chosen as a proctor for the exam, although for the Forest of Death stage.

"Okay kids," Temari said with a grin. She always enjoyed this part. "Everyone grab your gear and move. We've got to get to the Forest of Death."

Several genin stiffened at the name, but soon enough everyone was leaving. Temari glanced at Shikamaru and said, "You coming?"

Shikamaru nodded and followed behind her.

* * *

Temari watched as the gates into the forest opened, releasing several teams of genin. She had the joy of checking each of the genins' death waivers. Basically the waivers said that if the genin died it wasn't Konoha's fault. Shikamaru sat across from her, holding a fair share of the waivers in his hands.

"How did I get dragged into this?" Shikamaru asked as he waved the waivers in the air.

"I think it had something to do with how I got you to help me with the paperwork," Temari said with a grin.

The checked waivers in silence for several minutes, then Temari broke the silence by saying, "So who do you think will pass this year?"

Shikamaru thought for a moment before saying, "There was a team from Grass who looked pretty tough. Or at least looked like they knew what they were doing."

"I saw them," Temari answered. "I didn't really think they were anything special. There is a team from Suna I really like though. I think they have a real shot."

"Is it the same team you thought had a shot last year?" Shikamaru said with a wry smile. "If it is, I hope their luck had changed."

Temari huffed and said, "They've had a year's experience now. I'm sure they'll do better."

Shikamaru took out a cigarette and lit up, then took a slow drag. "Bet you a pack of cigarettes that Anko's girls screws up again."

Temari stifled a laugh. "Its not their fault. At their age, they're more interested in boys than being shinobi."

"You're one to excuse them," Shikamaru said with an upraised eyebrow. "You were strong enough to carve down a forest at their age."

"Remember why I had to do that?" Temari asked with a coy look.

Shikamaru sighed. "Are you really going to bring that troublesome memory back up?"

Temari eagerly nodded. "How could I forget? I mean you were almost dead…"

"I wasn't almost dead!" Shikamaru said. "She was getting ready to kill me."

"You didn't even cause her that much damage…" Temari said, continuing with a wistful look on her face.

"I nearly killed her!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Nearly only counts in horseshoes," Temari stated matter-of-factually. "Besides, in the end, who had to kill her?"

Shikamaru threw up his hands in defeat and said, "You, you troublesome woman!"

Temari was still laughing as she received a transmission on her radio. "Proctor, you might want to see this…"

Temari sighed and said, "I've got to go play proctor. Want to come with me?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I've got to head to the tower. They are expecting me."

Temari nodded and jumped through the woods.

* * *

When Temari arrived at the coordinates the voice on the radio had given her, she immediately noticed the three genin face down in blood. Two chunin were standing over them, examining the bodies.

"What happened here?" Temari asked.

"Someone killed these genin. And it wasn't another genin, or even a group." one of the chunin said as he answered her.

"How can you tell?" Temari asked as she bent down to examine the bodies herself.

"There aren't any signs of a struggle. Whoever did this killed them before the genin knew what was happening. That's a sign of someone at Jonin level. Someone very good at being stealthy." The chunin said.

Temari nearly cursed. "All right. You two head into the forest. Look for anyone who isn't supposed to be there. I head in another direction."

The chunin nodded and jumped upwards heading towards the trees. Temari did likewise, although heading in a different direction. She had almost cursed before because she realized that her stalker had most likely killed the genin.

She was close to panic, and was already using a lot of focus to repeatedly jump from tree branch to tree branch. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she didn't see the kunai shooting towards her. It skimmed her leg, drawing blood, and she almost missed the next branch she was leaping to.

Luckily, Temari landed safely. She reached down and clutched her leg. She almost didn't know what was happening as a shadowy figure grabbed her fan off her back and grabbed her weapons pouches. The figure crashed into her, grabbing her and jumping to the forest floor.

Once they were safely to the ground, the figure leaped back and stood several feet away from Temari, who was lying prone.

Temari sat up, trying to look at the figure, though she realized that her vision was blurring. "Who are you?" she asked. The figure was wearing a mask over his features that obscured all but his mouth and eyes.

The man stayed silent for a moment before saying, "You know, it hurts my feelings when you don't even read the notes I attached to the roses."

Temari's heart nearly stopped. She reached for her fan, only to remember that the man had knocked it off her back. She searched and found it several feet away. She stood on her hands and knees, trying desperately to reach the fan. But it was as if an unseen force was holding her back. She couldn't gather herself to reach the fan, and fell prone once again.

The Stalker chuckled and said, "I hope you're proud of yourself. That poison cost a fortune. It had to be powerful enough to sedate even _you_, yet not do any real harm to you."

Temari was having trouble breathing now. Panting, she said, "You…killed…that team…of genin."

The Stalker shrugged and said, "A necessary sacrifice. I had to have you and this was the only way to get you vulnerable. If it makes you feel any better, I picked a weak-looking team. They probably would have died anyway."

"What…about…Heron?" Temari asked.

"The ANBU?" The Stalker said. "Let's just say he's in a situation most ninja couldn't escape."

Temari tried to rise, but her body rejected her mental commands and laid prone. The Stalker chuckled again. "You don't know how long I've waited for this," the Stalker said. "I've wanted you for a long time, Temari."

The Stalker bent over Temari and gently laid himself on top of her. Then he began to kiss her.

Temari tried desperately to fight back, but her body wouldn't answer. She lied still as the Stalker kissed her. Then, to her terror, the Stalker began to try to undress her.

That was when things changed. Before the Stalker could undress her in anyway, a kunai sailed out of nowhere and hit the Stalker in the back. He howled in agony, but his howls quickly became silenced as he turned his head toward the direction the kunai came from.

Shikamaru appeared from among the forest, walking towards the Stalker and Temari. The Stalker hurriedly got off of Temari and reached for a kunai, hurling it at Shikamaru. Without even making hand signs, Shikamaru called upon a tentacle of shadow to catch the kunai and hurl in back at the Stalker. The Stalker jumped to the side.

Shikamaru now made hand signs and sent his shadow along the ground towards the Stalker. But the Stalker was fast, and dodged the advances of Shikamaru's shadow. Finally, Shikamaru pulled his shadow back and made a different hand sign while saying, "The first attack is always a feint."

While the Stalker pondered this, he noticed several explosive tags on the trees all around him. They began to light up. The Stalker began to jump, but the explosive tags were faster. Several explosions went off, throwing the Stalker forward. Before he could recover, Shikamaru sent several shadow tentacles towards him. The tentacles wrapped all around the Stalker, keeping him fully immobilized.

Shikamaru made the tentacles around the man's neck squeeze even harder as he turned to Temari. She was just beginning to rise. Apparently the drug didn't last very long. Either that or Temari was just that stubborn.

"You okay?" Shikamaru asked Temari, who was retrieving her fan.

She walked over to the immobilized stalker and looked him over. Then, without warning, she swung her solid steel fan into the crotch of the Stalker with all her might.

"I am now," Temari answered as the Stalker's eyes bugged out in pain, and he began to make whimpering noises.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. Right now, he was extremely glad that he hadn't used the Shadow Imitation technique.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

Hello, all. As you can probably see, this is the climax of _Responsibility, Reflection, and Roses_ (RRR). As most of you probably know, after a climax is the resolution, which is where the story is almost over. So RRR is basically almost over.

But now I am faced with a decision. I already have another idea for a another story, but what I'm wondering is if I should just end RRR and make a sequel. Or if I should keep RRR going and just add onto it. Since I love input, I'm asking for yours here. On my profile page is a poll. If some of you guys would take the poll, I would greatly appreciate it.

As always please leave me a review. Oh, and I'm really sorry Sayona13. What you're going through right now must really suck. But I'm glad my story brought you some entertainment.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Of course. I don't own _Naruto_.

* * *

After Temari's little incident with the stalker, the chunin exams went off without a hitch. Thanks to a lot of hard work between a lot of people and not to mention hard work from Shikamaru and Temari themselves. Especially since Temari had been going through a rough spot with the whole stalker thing.

Shikamaru stared at the arena where the chunin exams were being held, while leaning against a wall in the spectator area. Temari was being checked over by a medic now, and the stalker was now being held in one of Konoha's chakra resistant detention rooms. Of course, there was no time to question the stalker right now. The chunin exams took priority over everything else.

Temari walked up beside him. Shikamaru glanced over at her and asked, "Medic say everything's okay?"

"Of course," Temari said. Then, teasingly, she added, "That stalker couldn't really hurt me. I could tell he wasn't big on combat. Probably why even _you_ put him away so fast."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying that I can't take care of myself?"

Temari smirked in Shikamaru's direction. "Well," she said in a teasing voice, "actions speak louder than words. And I had to save your sorry self from Tayuya didn't I?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at this old story. Then he grinned as a quip came to mind. "Funny you should mention actions," Shikamaru said. "Because _your_ actions today seem to say you can't take care of yourself."

Temari thought about that for a moment before saying, "Touché. But it wasn't really fair today."

"Oh?" Shikamaru asked. He absentmindedly watched two kids in the arena try to slaughter each other.

"Yeah," Temari said, becoming more confident. "I mean, this guy watched me for weeks, waiting until I was vulnerable. You faced Tayuya on even combat terms. So, really, people would expect I needed to be saved. But you?"

Shikamaru stared at her for a few moments before taking out a cigarette and lighting up. He took a puff before saying, "You give me such a headache, you troublesome woman." He took a moment to exhale. "I just saved you and you're telling me that you can still make fun of me because you had to rescue me."

Temari giggled a little and said, "Yeah, that's basically it."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

They watched the matches in silence after that, with the only communication being, "Twenty bucks on your guy from Sand," and, "You're on."

* * *

The Stalker looked around his new home. Four walls. A ceiling. A floor. All made from solid stone that could endure chakra. That was basically it. No furniture except a small mat on the ground.

For one of the first times in his life, the Stalker couldn't feel the Hunger. He theorized that it had something to do with the fact that the 'equipment' he would normally use to fend the Hunger off was not exactly in…'working condition'. And to make matters worse, the Konoha Detention Center faculty hadn't sent in any medic or doctors, despite his pleas and insistences. It appeared as though he wouldn't be getting any anesthesia soon.

_Whore, slut, skank. Whore, slut, skank. Whore, slut, skank. _Those were the words that kept running through the Stalker's mind. All words used to describe Temari. If – no, WHEN he got out of here, he would make her pay. He would make sure that the woman paid for maiming his manhood.

That was the one way the Stalker could keep his mind off the pain in between his legs. He imagined what he would do to Temari. He would make her regret what she did. Then, once she was dead, he would turn his attention to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru.

The one who spoiled it.

The man who stole Temari from him.

The man he was going to kill Temari in front of.

The man who he was going to torture even worse than Temari, then kill.

Happily, the Stalker now realized that he had two things to think about that kept his mind off the pain. What he would do to Temari. And what he would do to Shikamaru.

* * *

The chunin exams ended with a bang. Literally. The tournament ended when a Konoha genin used a jutsu that caused an explosion on a Suna genin. The Konoha genin won, obviously.

Shikamaru reluctantly handed Temari a twenty-dollar bill.

Smiling, Temari took the bill and gestured toward the exit. "Shall we go check up on my stalker?"

Shrugging, Shikamaru headed towards the exit, Temari following closely behind.

When they arrived at the Konoha Detention Center, the Hokage was already there. Tsunade nodded at both of them and said, "He's still here."

"How's he doing?" Shikamaru asked out of curiosity.

"Well," Tsunade began. "He's crazy. No doubt about it. The guards said they heard him talking to himself."

"That's not too crazy. Heck, I do that sometimes." Shikamaru said.

"-about what he was going to do to you two." Tsunade said.

"Oh." Shikamaru replied.

Tsunade continued. "He's also been curled up in the fetal position, sitting in a corner. However, I think that has something to do with the fact that his 'junk' as he put it, is 'broken'." Tsunade turned a gaze at Temari, who smiled innocently.

"He seemed like a threat, so I immobilized him." Temari said with a smirk. "All sorts of things can happen in a battle. You know that Hokage-sama."

Tsunade simply sighed and said, "You sure did immobilize him. He keeps asking for anesthesia, or at least to see a doctor."

Temari smirked and said, "I'd like to see him rape any woman now. Serves him right in my opinion."

Shikamaru took a drag on his cigarette, then said, "Perhaps. But you aren't a guy, so you can't possibly even hope to imagine the pain he's in right now. Still, he probably deserved it."

Tsunade turned and walked down the hall, Shikamaru and Temari following her to an interrogation room, where Ibiki was already interrogating the stalker. The room had a double mirror, so they could see what was happening inside, but the stalker couldn't see out. The stalker was chained to the wall. If Shikamaru strained his eyes, he could faintly make out symbols on the chains that identified them as chakra-draining.

"We found identification on your personal possessions." Ibiki said, breaking the silence.

"Good for you." The Stalker replied. He had finally got some anesthesia.

Ibiki didn't let the smart aleck comment phase him. "So, Ijiko, tell me. Why?"

"Why not?" Ijiko asked in return.

"You had such a promising career," Ibiki continued. "You were one of Hidden Rock's best assassins. But I guess that wasn't enough."

"I _am _one of their best assassins." Ijiko objected.

"Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. The reality is that they have other assassins who don't waste time raping women." Ibiki said. "You may have been one of Rock's best assassins before you started raping women, but definitely not now."

"That doesn't affect me being Rock's best assassin!" Ijiko screamed.

Ibiki smiled. He'd found the spot he wanted to exploit. "You couldn't be a good little assassin and get off on killing people, could you? You get off on raping little girls."

Outside, Temari tried not to be offended about being called a little girl.

Ijiko rattled his chains wildly now, trying to get loose so he could kill Ibiki. No one questioned his ability as an assassin and lived. "If I'm such a bad assassin, why couldn't your silly little ANBU keep up with me, huh? He never even knew where I was, but I always knew where he was. And he didn't even try to stop me from having my way with that whore."

Shikamaru bristled. He glanced at Temari, but she didn't seem too upset about being called a whore. Shikamaru blushed slightly, embarrassed he was more upset about Temari being called a whore than she was.

Inside, Ibiki laughed loudly. Shikamaru knew he was faking, but it sounded extremely convincing that he found all of this hilarious. Ijiko was utterly confused.

"I'm sorry," Ibiki said between laughs. "But you criminals are so stupid sometimes. That ANBU was put there just so you wouldn't notice the other ones we had watching you. You were supposed to know where he was at all times. And he didn't help Temari when you attacked because he wasn't even there at the time."

Ijiko blinked in confusion.

Ibiki sighed. "I see I'll have to explain this slowly. We used Temari as bait. Why do you think Shikamaru was attacking you before you even unzipped your pants?"

Shikamaru nodded. His plan had used Temari as bait. He told Blue Heron about it and made sure Heron wasn't in the area to distract Ijiko. From reading a book on the psychology of stalkers, Shikamaru knew that Ijiko would be utterly obsessed and vulnerable once he had Temari where he wanted her. Ijiko wouldn't be worried about anyone else.

He hadn't told Temari about his plan. If she had known, she would have been looking for Shikamaru everywhere, and that would have been a tell to the stalker.

Of course, Shikamaru hadn't told Ibiki any of this. Right now, Ibiki was doing everything in his power to make Ijiko feel like a complete idiot.

Inside the interrogation room, Ijiko suddenly understood it all. Ijiko looked at the double mirror and asked, "Are they behind there?" Anger was in the man's eyes.

"I'd worry more about myself right now. Right now, we've got you on three counts of murder for killing that genin team." Ibiki said.

Suddenly Ijiko lunged at the window. "I'll kill both of you!" He screamed.

Temari jumped a little, but Ibiki was soon executing a sedation technique. Soon enough, Ijiko slouched in his chair.

* * *

In the following days after the chunin exams, Temari began to pack up and prepare to leave for Suna. Of course, Shikamaru had to help her with various degrees of paperwork, which seemed even more abundant than in the beginning of the chunin exam. Of course, Temari wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer, which led to events like the following:

"Shikamaru!" Temari called. She was currently walking around some of Shikamaru's preferred cloud-viewing spots looking for him.

Temari spotted Shikamaru's prone form lying on the grass in front of her. As she approached him, she saw that he was dozing soundly. Well, Temari just couldn't have that. She didn't believe in that old "Let sleeping dogs lie" saying.

Slowly, Temari crept up beside him, lowering her mouth to his ear, trying to be as quiet as possible. Then, she screamed at the loudest possible volume she could muster, "PINEAPPLE-HEAD! WAKE UP!"

Shikamaru jumped straight up and shoved Temari away from him, already reaching for his kunai before he recognized Temari's uncontrollable laughter. He sighed while reaching for a cigarette. After lighting up and taking a drag, he said, "I hope you know I hate you."

Temari, still laughing, finally managed to control her composure and said, "Enough fooling around. I need you to help with paperwork."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and said, "Why would I help a troublesome woman like you, who, might I add, just woke me from a wonderful nap?"

"Because if you don't, I'll tell Tsunade, and you can explain your answer to her." Temari said, folding her arms.

Shikamaru laid back down in the grass, idly staring at the clouds. "I've faced her wrath before. It's nothing compared to the monotony of doing paperwork on the chunin exams."

"I'll tell your mother you aren't pulling your weight." Temari said.

"See above answer," Shikamaru lazily drawled with a yawn.

"Fine then. How about this? We'll play janken. If I win, you help with the paperwork. If you win, you're off the hook."

Shikamaru glanced at her curiously. It wasn't often Temari was this easy going, especially regarding paperwork. "Deal," he reluctantly said. "On three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

Shikamaru used scissors. When he looked at Temari, she was holding up her fan. "Fan." She said simply.

Shikamaru took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Fan isn't a legitimate move in janken."

Temari hefted her fan and said, "If you don't get off your lazy bum and come help me with the paperwork, you'll find out just how legitimate this fan can be."

* * *

Shikamaru finished his last bit of paperwork and looked at Temari. Her stack would take at least a few more minutes to complete. He leaned back in his chair and pulled out a cigarette.

After lighting up, he took a long drag, exhaling slowly. He watched Temari sniff the air and turn towards him.

"You do know its illegal for you to smoke?" She asked.

"You do know I don't care?" Shikamaru retorted.

"Getting snippy? Do your parents know?" She asked, returning to her papers.

"That I'm getting snippy? Yeah, I would think so. I tend to get snippy when people drag me into doing things I don't want to, like filling out paperwork."

"I meant the smoking, baka."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't know about Mom, but my dad probably does. He's not stupid or senile enough to fool."

"He doesn't care?"

Another shrug. "He probably thinks it's too troublesome to get me to stop. Besides, I'll be eighteen soon anyway."

Temari continued working in silence for a full minute before saying, "Does your dad know about the drinking too?"

Shikamaru was slightly surprised. "How do you know about…"

"About your little drinking parties? I'm not stupid either, Shikamaru." Temari said in an even tone.

"He probably doesn't know about the drinking. He knows I go to Kiba's every Friday, but I doubt he knows sake is involved." Shikamaru took another long drag, then asked. "Why do you care?"

Temari stopped her paperwork entirely and turned towards him. "Maybe I don't want to see you kill yourself."

Shikamaru chuckled a little and said, "We risk our lives everyday. There's no guarantee of tomorrow. But you're worried about my long term health?"

"I guess." Temari said before returning to her paperwork.

"Oh," Shikamaru said. "You're coming over to dinner tonight."

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"No. My mother was…well, insistent to say the least." Shikamaru shrugged. "Besides, she makes an alright meal."

* * *

After dinner, Shikamaru and Temari walked towards the newly repaired Suna Embassy in silence.

"Tell your mom I had a great time." Temari said, breaking the silence. "I'll have to try and return the favor sometime."

"I'll let her know." Shikamaru said. "So…how are doing? I mean, really, how are you doing? None of this 'woman of strength' crap you put on in front of everyone else."

Temari didn't answer immediately. After a few moments, she answered, "I was scared for a long time. And I was even still worried after he was caught. But, slowly, I've come to understand that he is _not_ going to get out, and, after a few days, he won't ever be able to hurt anyone again."

Shikamaru nodded. "I was glad they put him on the death penalty. Makes me truly appreciate the legal system. At least for now. When it screws up again, then I'll be mad. But for now, I'm pretty happy with the system."

Temari nodded. "I know what you mean."

They stopped in front of the Suna Embassy.

"I'll see you in the morning." Shikamaru said, and started walking away.

"Remember," Temari called. "I'm leaving at first light."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru called back.

Giggling a little, Temari entered her temporary home.

* * *

When the sun decide to stretch its sunrays across Konoha, Shikamaru was already waiting outside the embassy. Temari opened the door and walked outside. They walked to the Village Gates silently, both seeming to have mixed feelings.

When they reached the gates, they stopped outside and lingered there. Neither seemed to know what to say.

Finally Temari settled on, "Shikamaru…thank you. For everything. If you weren't my partner, I would still have to worry about that stalker guy. I…"

Shikamaru held up a hand. "It's okay. I know what you mean. I guess I'll see you in six months. Bye, Temari."

"I guess I'll see you then. Bye, pineapple-head." Temari turned around and started to walk away, but then turned and walked back to Shikamaru.

"What are you –'' was all Shikamaru managed to get out before Temari embraced him tightly. He was startled at first, but quickly returned the embrace.

"Thank you," Temari whispered in his ear, then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Afterwards, Temari quickly turned around and walked off.

* * *

The legal system in Konoha is different from the rest of the Fire Country. Konoha is treated as a sovereign nation, one where the current Hokage is both judge and jury. If another village's shinobi commits a crime in Konoha, it is up to the Hokage to deal with the shinobi. Sometimes, this can be used as a weapon against the other village. If a top shinobi of an antagonistic village is in Konoha, the Hokage can basically have the shinobi executed for no reason at all. However, this is rare, and only occurs when two villages fight between each other. In every Hidden Village, the system works relatively well if the villages are on relatively nuetral terms, and especially if the visiting shinobi doesn't know he committed a crime.

So in the case of Ijiko, there wasn't much resistance from any legal source. Tsunade knew ordering the death penalty would probably make Hidden Rock angry, but once they learned of his crimes, they would probably just let it go.

For executions in Konoha, there were three choices. A medical shinobi could painlessly end the criminal's life by stopping their heart. The criminal could commit the ancient act of seppukku if they wanted to regain some honor. If the criminal refused the first two and was exceedingly difficult to attempt to painlessly kill by medical ninjutsu, then executors were authorized to use whatever means necessary to end the criminal's life.

Ijiko unwittingly chose the third option. He was backed against a wall, trying to climb to the ceiling. He had fought against the two jonin who were assigned to bring him to the execution room. Eventually, after twenty minutes of struggling, they let him go. And began to make hand signs. At the end of their hand seals, they both simultaneously blew fire at him.

Ijiko's death was quick, though it ended up involving much pain. His last few thoughts were regretting that he couldn't kill Temari and Shikamaru.

* * *

**A/N:** I'd like to say that I'm very sorry it took me a month to update. But, in an attempt to justify my lateness to myself, I'd like to say that I was busy a lot of the time, and that school sucks because it kept me busy a lot of the time.

Also, a little while ago, I asked people to vote on whether I should make a sequel or continue writing in RRR. The results were that most people wanted me to write a sequel. So here's my plan. I'm going to write one more chapter of RRR in the hopes of reaching a personal goal of 20,000 words. This chapter will be a combined epilogue of RRR and a prologue to the new fanfic, which I have decided will be named _Love, Liars, and Lilies_. Or LLL for short.

Anyway, reviews are always appreciated. Con crit is deeply appreciated also. And if you are upset that I was so late in updating, I completely understand. But fortunately for me, you can't kill me because I know you want to read the sequel. Also, this chapter is about 1,000 words longer than normal to make up for being late.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series.

* * *

The trek back to Suna was a long three day walk for Temari. On the way she had a lot to think about. She thought about how glad she was that her stalker was finally gone. She thought about how scared she was when her stalker was following her. She thought about her stalker in general, and why he would stalk her to begin with. She thought about what she would tell Gaara when she returned to Suna. She thought about Shikamaru, and how she was blessed to have such a good friend. She also thought about her last few moments with Shikamaru, even though she and he were the only ones who knew. She blushed when she thought about that. Then she wondered in Koji would have helped her the way Shikamaru had.

When Temari finally returned to Suna, she felt very relieved. She looked around her and hadn't realized how much she missed this place. She gazed at it for a time. The houses, made of sand, stood tall. The streets were busy with people in the familiar Suna dress, and every fifth person had a Suna shinobi vest on. It was at this time, the time when she returned from Konoha, that she appreciated her home the most. The sand architecture never looked so gorgeous. The busy streets never looked so familiar. And the Sun, whom she would have normally cursed for being so hot, instead seemed to cast down a welcoming warmth instead of bitter heat.

When Temari told Gaara about the fact that her stalker hadn't been the man they thought it was, and how he'd followed her to Konoha, Gaara was furious. Temari was glad to have him as a brother. Gaara said he'd have killed the man if he hadn't already been executed. After she assured Gaara that the man was dead, Temari went home. And slept. And slept. She finally felt truly safe. How couldn't she when Gaara was just several steps away. That, and he didn't sleep. Gaara had never truly grasped the concept of sleeping, even after he'd lost Shukako.

* * *

_3 months later…_

Temari looked at the ocean of sand in front of her. The sun was blazing now, and of course, she was cursing the large ball of gas. She'd been assigned to border patrol for the past few days. Not exactly the most exciting work for a shinobi, but it was required. Someone had to do it. Luckily, she was among a team that she knew very well. Teams like that tended to be the best kind of teams you could get. There were never uncomfortable silences, because everyone was comfortable with everyone else. Most of the time, decent conversation actually took place.

Her team was returning to the village now. A new team would be sent out, leaving hers to rest and refresh themselves after several days in the desert. Temari and her teammates reached the village gate without any mishap. After reporting in and making sure the new team made it out of the village, Temari noticed that half her team was already gone. Only one person was left: Koji.

Koji was tall. Taller than Temari by several inches. He was older than her too, though only by a year. He was tanned very dark. Obviously his family had lived in the village for several generations. He had very black hair that hung loose around his face. His face was very handsome, and he really stood out in a crowd. Temari had often seen times where he'd been asked to dance numerous times, by many girls. Occasionally a guy would ask too.

"What are you doing now Temari?" Koji asked. His voice sounded like what silk would sound like if it could talk.

"Well, I don't know about you, but the first thing I'm doing is taking a shower." Temari answered as she began to walk towards her home.

Koji fell into step beside her. He had a good enough reason. He lived only a block away from her. "I guess I should have asked what you were doing later." Koji said with a chuckle.

"What do you have in mind?" Temari asked.

"A bar or club. Somewhere social. I want to be around some more people than just four." Koji answered.

"I might be up for that," Temari said, then added teasingly, "but you'd have to promise not to pick anywhere too horny this time."

"The last place wasn't horny," Koji said in self-defense. "Those dancers had a perfectly good amount of clothes on."

Temari laughed a little and said, "I bet you wouldn't feel that way if the dancers were guys."

Koji smiled and said, "Probably not."

They reached Temari's home after a few more minutes of walking. Temari unlocked the door and said, "You want to come in and get something to drink?"

"Sure, I'm kind of thirsty," Koji answered.

Temari's family had no shortage of money. After all, when Gaara and their father (jerk that he was) were both Kazekages, you were fairly sure that their family would have money. Their two-story house aptly portrayed that. The house had several bedrooms and bathrooms, two living room areas, and one very large kitchen.

Temari ungracefully threw her traveling pack on the floor, while Koji quietly lowered his own pack to the floor. Koji head towards the kitchen to get some water, while Temari walked to the base of the stairs and called for Gaara.

"Gaara? Are you home yet?" Temari called.

"Yes." came Gaara's monosyllabic reply.

"Koji's here for minute." Temari said.

After several moments of silence came, "…Fine."

Koji reappeared by Temari's side, draining a glass of water. After he finished, he headed towards the door, quietly saying, "I'll pick you up around seven."

Temari waved goodbye to Koji, who opened the door and left.

After he left, Temari yelled, "Gaara!!"

Heeding her call, Gaara slowly descended the stairs, wearing his Kazekage outfit. He said, "Must you be so loud?"

"Must you be so mean to Koji?" Temari asked.

"Maybe." Gaara answered simply, while strolling towards the kitchen.

Temari followed him to the kitchen, exasperation beginning to show on her face. "You must have a reason for disliking him so much."

"I killed and was mean to a lot of people when I was younger." Gaara said. "All without reason."

"But their was a reason!" Temari exclaimed. "You were possessed by Shukaku!"

"That's not a good reason." Gaara answered as he poured himself some water.

"Tell me, why don't you like him?" Temari asked.

"Maybe he was mean to me as a child." Gaara answered as he headed back towards their living room.

"Every one was mean to you as a child!" Temari said, following him, clearly exasperated that her brother disliked one of her closest friends.

"Maybe he was meaner than every one else." Gaara said as he sat on a couch. Temari sat in a chair opposite of him, sighing and bowing her head.

"Besides," Gaara said, finishing his water. "We have more important things to talk about."

Temari forgot her grudge against Gaara for a moment and raised her head in curiosity. "Things like what?"

"Things like the fact that Hokage-sama is sending a diplomat here. The diplomat is supposed to talk to us about some things and he's also supposed to learn about our culture, how we operate, things like that. Konoha wants to put it in their school books or some such nonsense." Gaara said.

Temari nodded. Ninja villages in a peace treaty often did things like this. Just to keep tabs on their ally. After all, the old shinobi adage was, "Never let another guard your back unless you absolutely trust them. Else you may find a knife in your back." Shinobi learned not to be too trusting early one in their careers.

"The diplomat has never been to Suna before, so obviously, he'll need a guide." Gaara said.

Temari was piecing things together now. "You want me to be the guide?"

Gaara nodded. "You've been to Konoha several times, so you are familiar with a lot of shinobi there, not to mention their customs and culture too. Hokage-sama has also given me permission to use the diplomat in missions if need be, so you might be on a mission with him as well. Hokage-sama has assured me that he is a very proficient shinobi. Extremely intelligent too, from what she says, but she also said he's pretty lazy…"

Temari held up her hand. "Wait. What's his name?"

Gaara closed his eyes in concentration, trying to remember. "We've met him before…at the chunin exams…Shikamaru Nara."

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Temari's scream surprised Gaara and he _almost_ jumped.

* * *

_Back in Konoha…after Shikamaru had failed to close the doors quietly for the 374th time…_

"Wait," Shikamaru said, "You want me to go _where_?"

**Fin**

**A/N: **Well, that's it. RRR is done, and I'm moving on to _Love, Liars, and Lilies_. Expect the first chapter of LLL to be up in a little while (probably after Christmas).

On that note, I would like to with everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Honica, Happy Holidays, or whatever holiday saying fits your taste. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I hope every one reads LLL too.

Please leave a review or even a PM, and constructive criticism is always welcomed.


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